Plural or singular

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ostap77

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"Take a look at the example given below and think of other division."

I guess it should have been either "another division" , "the other division" or "other divisions" depending on the context?
 

opa6x57

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depending on the context?

Yes - the meaning and correct usage would depend on the context. There's not enough context in your example to properly determine the correct usage.

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ostap77

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Yes - the meaning and correct usage would depend on the context. There's not enough context in your example to properly determine the correct usage.

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So it's never "other division"?
 

opa6x57

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So it's never "other division"?

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I cannot think of a context where 'other division' would be correct. That is not to say that such a context is not-existent, only that I cannot think of one.
 

5jj

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Is there any other division?

That's one possibility for 'other division'. But, as opa pointed out, and as you should know by now, ostap, context is everything.
 

Raymott

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"Take a look at the example given below and think of other division."

I guess it should have been either "another division" , "the other division" or "other divisions" depending on the context?
There's no possible context for that sentence that I can think of.
 

ostap77

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There's no possible context for that sentence that I can think of.
"Sometimes the devision between the adopted word-groups, I haven't seen you for instance, can be used to convey the extra-linguistic information."

That's the pessage that preceeded the one given above.
 

Raymott

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"Sometimes the devision between the adopted word-groups, I haven't seen you for instance, can be used to convey the extra-linguistic information."

That's the pessage that preceeded the one given above.
OK, I thought of a context.
In computer programming there is integer division and float/double division. Integer division, such as 7/3 gives 2. The remainder/modulo is dropped.
If a student said "7/3 is 2", a teacher might possibly say, "Think of other division" - ie. not integer division.
NOTE: I do not think this is what was meant. I think it's just bad English or inadequate editing.

5. Expressions — Python v2.7.1 documentation
"The integer division and modulo operators are connected by the following identity: x == (x/y)*y + (x%y). Integer division and modulo are also connected with the built-in function divmod(): divmod(x, y) == (x/y, x%y). These identities don’t hold for floating point numbers; there similar identities hold approximately where x/y is replaced by floor(x/y) or floor(x/y) - 1 [3]."
 

ostap77

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OK, I thought of a context.
In computer programming there is integer division and float/double division. Integer division, such as 7/3 gives 2. The remainder/modulo is dropped.
If a student said "7/3 is 2", a teacher might possibly say, "Think of other division" - ie. not integer division.
NOTE: I do not think this is what was meant. I think it's just bad English or inadequate editing.

5. Expressions — Python v2.7.1 documentation
"The integer division and modulo operators are connected by the following identity: x == (x/y)*y + (x%y). Integer division and modulo are also connected with the built-in function divmod(): divmod(x, y) == (x/y, x%y). These identities don’t hold for floating point numbers; there similar identities hold approximately where x/y is replaced by floor(x/y) or floor(x/y) - 1 [3]."


I've thought that "other" without "the" takes the plural of a noun "other divisions". If it's the singular than we use it with the defenite article "the other division"=one of two or ''another devision" to mean "one more". Doesn't another fit better in the context?
 

Raymott

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I [STRIKE]'ve[/STRIKE] thought that "other" without "the" takes the plural of a noun "other divisions". If it's the singular than we use it with the defenite article "the other division"=one of two or ''another devision" to mean "one more". Doesn't another fit better in the context?
Yes, he could say, "Think about another type of division", or "another division", or "the other type of division". All of these are better.

But I thought the problem was finding a context in which it almost made sense - not where it was the best solution.
There is no possible context where your original sentence is the best solution.
 

ostap77

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Yes, he could say, "Think about another type of division", or "another division", or "the other type of division". All of these are better.

But I thought the problem was finding a context in which it almost made sense - not where it was the best solution.
There is no possible context where your original sentence is the best solution.

It's from a book on RP "English Phonetics".
 

Raymott

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It's from a book on RP "English Phonetics".
It may be. What are the full books specifications - Author, Title, Publisher, Year.
Have you checked the errata? They often post these on the web these days.
 

ostap77

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It may be. What are the full books specifications - Author, Title, Publisher, Year.
Have you checked the errata? They often post these on the web these days.

Frankly, the problem is that it was not written by a native speaker. It's one of the books we were given to learn from.When I was reading it, I just got a feeling that there was something wrong about the sentence in the first thread. I wanted to know if it's correct
 
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